


Ages in the Darkness

by stolenkisses



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M, ending spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 06:05:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9979694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stolenkisses/pseuds/stolenkisses
Summary: A glimpse into the mind of Ardyn Izunia





	

Ages in the Darkness

 

Immortality.

A punishment bestowed upon the one the Astrals and the King of Lucis alike had dubbed the Accursed. For Ardyn Lucis Caelum, it had meant a lifetime of isolation. Years blurred together with no meaning and no warmth. He spent his days festering in the inescapable cage of his own body, drowning in the rage and loneliness that threatened to overwhelm him.

The mistakes of the past could not be changed, a harsh lesson that years of death and rebirth had taught him. In the present, he sat at his desk as the Imperial Chancellor Ardyn Izunia.

Years of knowledge pushed his work output far beyond the limits of any mortal. He soared through three days of assignments in mere minutes. In these moments, Ardyn found himself yearning for the life he had lived before he had lost everything. As both the King and the Oracle, he had grown accustomed to the adoration and praise heaped upon him by his beloved citizens. He had been a kind man then, untouched by the cruelty of those hungering for power at the expense of human lives, and genuinely enjoyed healing the citizens of his kingdom regardless of the toll taking daemons into his body was costing him.

Ardyn’s kindness had lead to his downfall, a fact he clung to with a bitter fervor. With each inhale and exhale of breath, the daemons Ardyn had absorbed from the infected citizens would stir beneath the surface of his body. Their darkness buried within him had marked him as impure, no longer worthy of the great powers and respect bestowed upon him. His identity as the Oracle and the Chosen King, his home, his connection with the Astrals, the love of his people---all of it, ripped away from him in a heartbeat.

These recollections he often tried to skip past, yet the powerful feelings of betrayal stabbed through him no matter how brief the memory. His own brother, Izunia, cast Ardyn out of the royal palace. Ardyn was branded as a daemon who hosts daemons within him. A monster whose evil was beyond compare. “Thus,” His brother had boomed out from his position on the podium, feeding on the panic and shock sweeping through the crowd, “The fallen King must be taken to the Pitioss Dungeon where he can do no further harm.”

Ardyn had been chained up in Pitioss Dungeon by his own citizens and left to rot. His pleas fell on deaf ears during that awful time bound and helpless in the dark quiet of the dungeon, with no sunlight for him to use as a measure of how long he’d been down there.

Usurper. The Astrals had murmured through his mental connection to them. Accursed. They deemed him unworthy, answering his cries with the finality of rejection and in the next moment Ardyn had choked out a sob. His healing abilities were gone. His link to the Astrals severed.

The pen in his hand shattered beneath his vice grip, shards of glass ripped through his skin slicing him open. The blood disappeared as soon as it rose up on his skin. He felt no pain.

Rage coursed through him and he could feel the daemons inside him fighting to take over, to rip away the last vestiges of his control. Yet, he would never allow that to happen. His light burned bright within him in a sharp contrast to the endless sea of darkness trying to snuff out his soul.

The garbled roar of Ifrit thundered in his mind, the splitting headache that always accompanied communication from the Astrals served as a welcome distraction.

“The chosen one has been born.” Ifrit, the Astral cut off from the rest and allied with Ardyn, informed him.

In that moment, Ardyn’s breath was ripped away from him. An eternity of isolation and darkness, all of it, lead to this.

Noctis Lucis Caelum

The Chosen King.

The name alone flooded Ardyn’s body with a surge of euphoria.

 

* * *

 

“And you are…?” Noctis Lucis Caelum stared Ardyn down with crossed arms and the wry raise of a brow. His icy blue eyes scanned over Ardyn before shifting away to observe things of greater interest to him. The prince had merely scratched the surface, completely uninterested in whatever he thought the suspicious stranger offering him money wanted from him in exchange. Yet to Ardyn, even a second of being the center of attention, of being glimpsed by the same eyes he’d been drawn to from the first time he locked eyes on the Prince, was thrilling.

Ardyn responded to Noctis’ question with a carefree smile, undeterred by the glares being sent his way from the Prince’s friends.

“Why, I am a man of no consequence.” He replied with a bow and with that, was on his way.

 

* * *

 

Ardyn boarded the train bound to Tenebrae, his eyes for once locked not on Noctis but on his rambunctious chocobo haired blond best friend, Prompto Argentum. Ardyn hummed the chocobo song to himself, practicing for the role of a lifetime while he waited for Prompto to break from the group.

This time, he’d be able to use his illusions to get a little bit closer to Noctis. Not in proximity but in bond. Far closer than anyone who had driven a dagger through Noctis’ fiancée would ever manage to get, that’s for sure. After what seemed to be ages, Prompto bounded over to his train car whistling to himself. Ardyn yanked Prompto the rest of the way through the entrance and smashed the back of his head into the wall knocking him out cold.

Ardyn cloaked them both in the illusion of each other’s image and set off to greet his dear friends Ignis and Gladio in the front car of the train. He had to make sure they stayed put and wouldn’t interfere with his time alone with Noctis after all. Behind him, the real Prompto stirred awake, unaware that the next time his beloved best friend Noctis saw him it would be as the man who had killed his betrothed.

 

* * *

 

“Hey Noct….you ok?” Ardyn licked his lips and willed himself to not give in to the burning desire he had to run his hands all over Noctis’s body. He was thousands of years old yet being this close to Noctis and having the plausible deniability of Prompto Argentum’s appearance was making his mind run wild.

Ardyn took a deep breath, reigning in his lust, and compromised with himself. He would keep his touches in line with the level of closeness he’d observed amongst Noctis and his friends.

Ardyn opted to place his hand on Noctis’s forearm, wrapping his fingers around the pale soft skin of the Prince. Under the guise of shaking Noctis awake, Ardyn shifted his hand along the Prince’s arm pressing it in closer to his face. His fingertips glided along Noctis’ cheekbone, swiping across his parted lips with a feather light touch.

Noctis’s weary eyes blinked open. He scanned the room around him seeking out Ardyn unaware of the fact that he was kneeling right next to him. His eyes focused on Prompto by his side and he sighed, tension slowly releasing from his shoulders.

The trust and relief in Nocts’ eyes, the warmth reserved for his loved ones alone, was now directed at Ardyn.

Ardyn fought to stifle the ugly jealousy that rose up within him like bile. The love he himself would never receive from Noctis was being given to a worthless MT on a daily basis. Ardyn couldn’t afford to have his true identity revealed so early in his plan, so he clenched his fist behind his back and put on a fake smile in a true homage to the cheerful act Prompto put on so well.

 

* * *

 

Noctis warped back to join Prompto in the train car, landing just in time to slash through one of the MTs attempting to enter the passenger cars.

“They’re gonna blow us to bits!” Ardyn remarked, while he thought it’s what Prompto would say at a time like this he also was hoping to instill some urgency into Noctis and wrap this up.

“Not if we blow them up first!” Noctis answered, warping through the air leaving blue silhouettes in his wake. He kicked an MT off the train watching it tumble down the hillside and explode and then cast a smirk over his shoulder at Ardyn.

Ardyn couldn’t control the way his face flushed and felt immensely grateful to be hidden beneath the mask of Prompto Argentum.

“How’s that now?” He asked, forcing playfulness into his words. Noctis’s friendliness had the unfortunate habit of both turning him on and making Ardyn uncomfortably aware of how much more fun life was when you had someone by your side to support you.

“Shoot ‘em.” In front of him, Noctis continued on fighting with one of the last remaining MTs in their train car. Noctis was smiling, exhilarated by the thought of victory being close at hand and completely oblivious to Ardyn’s inner turmoil.

 

* * *

 

“Prompto!” Noctis roared, warping to his friend’s rescue, with his blade drawn high. He launched himself at Ardyn, slashing at him with everything he had. To Noctis’ surprise, in the blink of an eye Ardyn was gone and the person he was hurtling towards was Prompto.

Prompto cried out, throwing himself backwards to avoid being cut in half by Noctis. He windmilled his arms in a desperate attempt to maintain his balance, but it was too late. He fell off the train out of Noctis’ grasp.

Noctis landed on top of the train staring at Prompto in horror, his eyes gazing from where he stood back to where he had just seen Prompto fall. His body tensed and he moved to jump, causing Ardyn to intervene.

“How long were you in the dark?” Ardyn chided from behind Noctis, lazily spinning Prompto’s gun in his hand.

“What?” Noctis snapped his head to face him and was met with a quick hit to the back of his head. He fell to his knees and fainted.

Ardyn couldn’t help but smile.

 

* * *

 

Ardyn warp-striked directly into the Chosen King with a maniacal laugh. He pinned Noctis to the cold ground, pressing the full weight of his body onto him. Noctis froze up, winded by the impact. Ardyn moved quickly, pressing his hand down hard onto Noctis’ face, covering his eyes shut.

Ages upon ages spent longing for this day had caused Ardyn to abandon all attempts of decorum. His golden eyes welled up with tears of desperation, the moment he had wished for was mere moments away, but he needed to know Noctis wouldn’t betray him. Wouldn’t give up, or succumb to Ardyn’s strength, leaving him to wander for all of eternity his supply of Chosen Kings and crystals exhausted.

He forced himself to keep his mouth shut even though he wanted more than anything to plead with Noctis to set him free, end this once and for all so he could finally rest. Ardyn knew the consequences of kindness and vulnerability. He would not be done in by them again.

Ardyn looked down at Noctis, a mirthless smirk on his lips. “My revenge is soon at hand…How long have I waited?” He mused idly, the words holding no weight to them on a surface level yet he prayed to whatever deity still would hear him that Noctis would read between the lines. That he would hear the silent plea crying out from Ardyn’s entire being.

Unable to deny the inevitable, Ardyn slid his hand off of Noctis’s face, gripping onto his collar.

“Don't worry. It's far from over.” Noctis ground out from his clenched teeth, hissing in pain. His eyes locked onto Ardyn’s.

Ardyn had always believed himself to be the smartest one in any room but it was his knowledge about the moods and thoughts of Noctis Lucis Caleum that he truly believed himself to be an expert.

Yet, Noctis stubborn as he was, just had to go and prove Ardyn wrong.

Instead of being greeted by the hate-filled glare Ardyn anticipated, Noctis stared up with weary eyes warm with understanding. The look sent warmth rising through Ardyn’s body. Idly bringing back the only time he’d received such a loving stare from Noctis, when he had been disguised as Prompto. When he had sworn to himself to savor this moment, knowing he would never experience it again. Beyond compassion, beyond duty, Noctis’ expression was softened with kindness offered solely to Ardyn. Sympathy.

Ardyn’s hand pulled tighter on Noctis’ collar, lifting him up off the ground and on to his feet. He stood up and tossed Noctis away from him.

“Well, let’s have it then.”

 

* * *

 

Ardyn lay dying on the battle scarred streets of Lucis, immense pain pulsing through the deep stab wound Noctis had speared through him. No healing coming to save him this time.

“What will you do…banish the daemons and bring peace?” Ardyn mused, desperate for confirmation that this time, he would stay dead. Freed from his cursed fate. Out of the corner of his eye, Noctis came into full-view. Noctis knelt down to sit by Ardyn’s side, his eyebrows twisted inwards in thought.

Ardyn’s breathing grew labored, the pain making his head spin and black spots dance across his vision. He gave voice to the real question he needed answered, “…erase me from history once more?”

Ardyn found himself searching for Noctis’ eyes, needing to see them, to get a read on Noctis.

“ This time, you can rest in peace. Close your eyes forevermore.” Noctis answered, his voice heavy with the understanding of the true cost of Ardyn’s rest and the sacrifice it entailed from him. Still, his blue eyes were determined and he met Ardyn’s anxious gaze with confidence. The mark of a true King.

Ardyn mustered up his strength to curve his lips up into a genuine smile. The joy of his impending freedom washed over him, but the sorrow of saying goodbye to the one person who cared whether he lived or died made it bittersweet.

His vision turned black and a feeling of dread nagged at him. Fear that this was a lie and his rest would be snatched out from under him. He could still hear Noctis breathing, steady and in no hurry to leave him behind. A powerful trust in Noctis, one he had known was within him from the moment he first heard his name, smoothed over his anxieties.

“I will await you in the beyond.”


End file.
